4023 Anthony Highway Fayetteville, PA 17222
The latter half of the 19th century was a period of mechanical
invention and progress and industrial growth, and the
Waynesboro-Quincy area of south central Pennsylvania was in the
center of that activity, jsut to name Geiser, Frick, Fahrney,
Emmert, and Metcalfe as examples of early machinery attesting to
that fact. If the circumstances had been different, Quincy just
might have developed into a manufacturing center to vie with
Waynesboro for industrial recognition, and in the process, the
Metcalfes might have received the recognition they deserved. But
such was not to be.
Industrial activity was a part of the Quincy scene almost
without interruption from 1850 to 1916, and the Metcalfes, John L.,
the father, and John T., the son, were closely involved for most of
that entire span. There can be little doubt that the two men were
mechanical geniuses and that the engines and improvements they
invented were among the best of their day.
John L. Metcalfe was born in England in 1831, and came to
America with his family when he was still a boy. When in his teens,
he learned, as an apprentice, the millwright trade, which
occupation he followed for many years along with his manufacturing
activities.
Metcalfe settled in Quincy in the early 1850’s and purchased
the Fahrney property there in 1855. In 1856, he began the business
of manufacturing and repairing grist and saw mills. For the next
six or eight years, John L. Metcalfe continued to make, repair, and
improve the mills, machines, engines, implements, and tools of his
neighborhood customers. During this period he invented and patented
a threshing machine, the rights to which he sold to the budding
Frick Company in neighboring Waynesboro. For just a short time he
joined Frick as superintendent of the woodworking shop.
A very early Metcalfe product, this steam engine was built by
Metcalfe Manufacturing Company in about 1860.
In 1864, competition in the machine industry in Quincy was
started by Josiah Fahrney, who announced made-to-order threshing
machines with particular attention to repairing. He also built the
treble-geared Pelton’s engines in three sizes-8, 6, and 4
horsepower. This competition was short-lived, however, as he
transferred his interests and abilities to the Waynesboro firm of
Geiser, Price and Company in 1866. Just a month or so after forming
a partnership with Jacob F. Hess. After Fahrney left the
partnership, Hess formed a partnership immediately with Joseph F.
Emmert, which continued until 1868, when it became known as the
Quincy Foundry and Machine Shop.
Meanwhile, after that brief stay with Frick, John L. Metcalfe,
in 1864, purchased the sawing and chopping mills of V.B. Gilbert at
Roadside and began chopping grains and sawing lumber, each service
to be performed at short notice.
In those 1860’s in an agrarian society and in the infancy of
the mechanized industry, the fencing of fields and property was
evidently being done by many owners. In 1869, Mr. Metcalfe was
given competition in posthole-boring by Jonathan Null, who patented
a posthole-boring machine on March 2, 1868. This inventor made the
usual boast of that day, as is also the case today, – ‘mine is
superior’. The Null machine could be operated with any of the
powers then available: hand, horse, steam, or water. Output could
be 25 to 300, post a day, depending on the power used.
But John L. Metcalfe meets his competition. He invents and
patents on April 16, 1872, the Excelsior Post Boring and Wood
Sawing Machine. He has purchased the Quincy Foundry and Machine
Shop about 1868 from Hess and Emmert. This shop was located just
west of the Metcalfe property. This inventor also boasts that his
machine ‘excels anything of the kind now in use’. In
addition to building this new machine, repair work of all kinds was
undertaken.
The very first gas engine produced by the Metcalfes in 1905. The
photo was given to Charles Carbaugh by John T. Metcalfe’s
daughters.
The Quincy Foundry and Machine Shop evidently continued to
expand its activity. In 1875, his son John T., aged 21, had joined
his father.
John T. Metcalfe, the son, was born in Quincy, 1854, and grew up
in a mechanical environment. We can see the son as a boy watching
his father making and repairing all kinds of machines. We know that
John T. worked in his father’s shop and in the Waynesboro
shops, and that he made a specialty of the gasoline engine.
Father and son were now working together and in 1876 they
improved the threshing machine and developed the Centennial
Thresher, Cleaner, and Bagger, which was patented June 12, 1877.
Also being further developed at the time were steam engines, called
‘powers’ in the parlance of that age. It seems that the
Metcalfes were ready to move from miscellaneous and small
manufacturing and repairing activity to a concentration on heavier
and fewer products.
On April 1, 1879, they commenced business this day under the
name Metcalfe Manufacturing Company (Limited) for the purpose of
conducting the manufacturing and repairing business at Quincy,
Pa.
Associated with the Metcalfe’s in this venture was H. M.
Benedict. The company’s property was located near the west
branch of the Little Antietam west of the Metcalfe property and
without a doubt was the former Quincy Foundry and Machine Shop. The
two main products of manufacture were threshers and engines, the
latter, as noted above, called ‘powers’ by the
bookkeeper.
The first year was an active and seemingly successful business
year. No repair job was too small and none was too large.
Approximately 20 threshers were built and most sold to Centennial
Threshers. By the early 1880’s a Metcalfe 25 HP engine
furnishes power for an electric light station at the park at
Williams Grove, Pa.
Advertising was used by the Metcalfes, illustrating their
progressive-ness in going after business. The Chambersburg and
Waynesboro papers ran Metcalfe advertising on long-term contracts,
and their brochures, pamphlets, and circulars were distributed in
bordering states.
Before tracing the successes and failures of the Metcalfes and
manufacturing in Quincy beyond 1885, perhaps some picture of local
industrial conditions in 1880 to 1885 may be interesting. The work
week was 65 hours11 hours Monday through Friday and 10 hours on
Saturday. The chief mechanic received 12 to 15 cents an hour with
no overtime. Piece work was unknown. All workers could run all
machines. The apprentices earned four and five cents an hour, which
amounted to ten to eleven dollars per month.
Production was all for one and one for all. The assembly line
was unknown. Cost accounting was very non-technical. The same man
probably never produced the same components of the different
engines and machines. In this day and age such production would be
called leisurely.
The repairs undertaken were of all types and for all people.
Engine repairs were numerous. Stove and iron work made up many
jobs. There were little repairs and large repairs. Post-hole boring
continued. Plow points were made. Chains were mended. Commodities
were sold. Most of these were engine and stove and agricultural
implement parts. At times lumber was sold. Flour was handled for
selected people.
Much business was charge or trade. A shoemaker would have his
stove repaired. Some time later a partner would have boots made.
Settlement would be made by charging the partner’s account,
after which the shoemaker’s and the company’s accounts
would be written off against each othera three-way transaction.
Many accounts were even more involved.
Although this early Metcalfe company seemed to progress
satisfactorily in Quincy, there was a need for capital to expand to
take care of the demand for more engines and threshers. Whether the
reason for the move from Quincy in 1889 was need for additional
funds or whether some Shippensburg capitalists saw an excellent
investment opportunity, The Metcalfe Manufacturing Company did
locate in Shippensburg. This search for capital seemed to underlie
the ‘ups and downs’ of the Metcalfe companies during the
next sixteen years.
By August 22, 1889, the relocated company was ready for
operation in Shippensburg. The machinery had been taken from Quincy
and put in place. The products were the same as were made in
Quincy. Special attention would be given to repairing and foundry
work. The high speed engines could be throttled to control speed or
would automatically speed up or slow down according to the load
being worked on. Engines generating from 1 to 20 HP would be made
to order. Mr. Metcalfe spoke of his experience and boasted that the
first engine he made was still running.
Metcalfe may have gone to Shippensburg with his son, but it is
the opinion of the writer that he stayed in Quincy and maybe even
continued to conduct a repair business individually or with the
help of several men. This Shippensburg venture was not successful
and, within a year two , John T. Metcalfe was back in Quincy and
again in business as The Metcalfe Manufacturing Company. John L.
Metcalfe died in 1894, but the son continued business without
interruption.
However, the day of the little shop operated by a small group of
employees was fast drawing to a close. If a product was excellent,
(and the Metcalfe engine was), the resulting larger plant and work
force would be expected to yield success and prosperity. Twice
within the ten years after 1900, outside capital was placed with
the Metcalfes in Quincy, but each time the reorganized company was
not successful.
In 1901, John T. Metcalfe gave an option on his entire business
to John G. Corbett, an intelligent and skilled master mechanic, and
John E. Demuth, a conservative capitalist, both of Waynesboro.
Capital was set at $25,000.00, and plans were made to move the
plant to Waynesboro, but this deal fell through.
A variety of Quincy engines await loading on a freight car in
this picture. John L. Metcalfe is on the left.
Less than a year later, in February, 1902, four Geiser Company
directors and two Quincy residents capitalized a reorganized
Metcalfe Manufacturing Company with $50,000.00. The Waynesboro
Herald described Metcalfe as the ‘inventor and patentee of the
gas and gasoline engine which the company will manufacture and (one
who) thoroughly understands his business so that he will make a
most efficient manager of the shop’. This time the shops were
to stay in Quincy. In the formation of the company story, Geiser
Company is not named as the purchaser, but evidence indicates that
the officers were acting for the Geiser Company, and the older
residents of Quincy probably have been correct in always commenting
that Geiser bought the Metcalfes out ‘in the early
1900’s’.
Plans were big; hopes were high; and the picture was rosy. The
prosperous little town is to take on new growth and acquire a new
stature in the manufacturing world, so said the papers. Engines are
to be built on a large scale. Business is to be of very large
proportions. Employees would number 200 in two years. A 40′ by
80′ foundry and machine shop is planned.
An advertising brochure of this period illustrates the
confidence of the manufacturers in their product:
‘A maker of the Gas and Gasoline Engines claiming to have an
engine of superior merit should give good and valid reasons for
making this claim or it will have little weight with a careful
buyer. Also, the business reputation and financial standing of a
manufacturer is a factor which should be considered in making a
purchase.
‘In advertising the Metcalfe engine we make no claims which
we are not preparedd to substantiate, and in our brief description
will endeavor to show a few of our points of superiority over other
makes of engines, as we do not wish to burden our readers with a
long, superfluous description.’
But those big plans, those high hopes, and the rosy picture
literally went up in smoke, for on May 28, 1904, the Metcalfe
Manufacturing Company burned to the ground. The only items saved
were some blueprints, a few documents, three engines, and tools.
The monetary loss was $40,000.00, with insurance of just
$13,000.000.
By the middle of the week following the fire, possession was
taken by the Geiser Company of a building in Greencastle which had
been purchased just a short time before. Patterns were made and by
October, the Metcalfe gas and gasoline engine was being built in
the Greencastle shops. Twelve engines were on the floor, and this
number was increased to 100 in a few weeks. Sixty workers were
employed.
But John T. Metcalfe remained in Quincy, making plans to use the
damaged shops if he could. Enough space was salvaged for him and
Mr. Alfred J. Miller to begin building gasoline engines with the
assistance of only a few helpers as they were needed. Several
Metcalfe-Miller engines were produced in this manner. Harry E.
Snyder, the Quincy correspondent for the Waynesboro papers, called
this concern the Metcalfe and Miller Company and noted that the
demand for its products had increased so rapidly that it was found
necessary to enlarge the plant.
The Quincy Engine Company exhibit at Williams Grove Park during
a farm equipment show.
Certainly, the Metcalfe genius in making and improving the
gasoline engine and other machines was the basis and surety for the
investment of $25,000 by a group of men in a corporation named the
Quincy Engine Company, formed in September, 1906, for the purpose
of manufacturing gas and gasoline engines, air compressors,
spraying outfits, power pumps, and pump-jacks. Directors included
John T. Metcalfe, and Alfred J. Miller. Five directors were from
Quincy, three from Chambersburg, and one from Kauffman’s
Station. John T. Metcalfe was named general superintendent.
The location of this new company was several hundred feet east
of the former company plants and adjoined the Metcalfe residence
with the machine shop and office fronting on the Waynesboro-Mont.
Alto road. Other shops were between the machine shop and the
railroad.
Within a year the capital was raised from $25,000.00 to
$35,000.00 to gain funds for building and equipment. Without
salesmen or sales agencies, the demand for Quincy products was
larger than could be supplied.
For four years the Quincy Engine Company seemed to prosper, to
run smoothly without internal conflict and dissention. News
accounts extolled the virtues of its products, forecast banner
years, and usually referred to the demand being greater than the
supply. In November, 1910, there was an unprecedented rush in
orders and the shops were busy at night trying to meet the demand.
There were 57 men employed, and 29 engines had been sold in the
month, more than double the number sold during any previous month
since the establishment of the works. Possibly the only advertising
catalog in existence (issued in late 1911 or early 1912) is flowery
in its adjectives and has an illustration of the shops which must
have existed only in the imagination of the publicity agent. Each
product is described in detail with accompanying illustrations. In
addition to newpaper and brochure advertising, the engines were
exhibited at the Granger’s Picnic at Williams Grove, at the
York Fair, and at the Hagerstown Fair.
By 1912, although the engines produced were meeting with
gratifying success, there were the first signs of trouble and
disagreements among the directors and stockholders. The conflict
seemed to arise from a desire on the part of the Chambersburg
faction to physically move the plant from Quincy to that town. At
the annual meeting in 1912, a proposed move to Chambersburg
surfaced for the first time. No move was made, but the idea did not
vanish.
This air compressor engine, approximately 6 HP, is the only one
known to have been made during the year in Shippensburg. It
eventually became the Domestic engine.
A rare copy of a 1910 price list of engines manufactured by the | ||||||
STATIONARY AND SEMI-PORTABLE | ||||||
Horse | DRIVE PULLEY | Clutch | ||||
Power | Diam. | Face | Speed | Price | Extra | |
1 | 4 to 8 | 3 in | 500 | $ 80 | ||
1? | 5 to 11 | 4 | 450 | 100 | ||
3 | 7 to 13 | 4? | 400 | 135 | ||
4? | 18 to 22 | 5 | 350 | 210 | $20 | |
6 | 22 | 6 | 340 | 275 | 20 | |
The Semi-Portable 1 to 6 Horse Power, mounted on wood sills, | ||||||
8 | 26 | 6? | 290 | $385 | $25 | |
10 | 28 | 7? | 280 | 450 | 25 | |
12 | 30 | 7? | 270 | 500 | 35 | |
15 | 32 | 8 | 260 | 575 | 35 | |
22 | 34 | 10 | 250 | 880 | 45 | |
8 to 22 Horse Power completed with iron sub-base, anchor | ||||||
PORTABLE ENGINES | ||||||
1 | 4 to 8 | 3 in | 500 | $ 92 | ||
1? | 5 to 10 | 4 | 450 | 112 | ||
3 | 7 to 13 | 4? | 400 | 150 | ||
4? | 18 to 22 | 5? | 350 | 230 | $20 | |
6 | 22 to 24 | 340 | 325 | 20 | ||
8 | 34 | 6 | 290 | 425 | 25 | |
10 | 34 | 6? | 280 | 500 | 25 | |
12 | 36 | 6? | 270 | 565 | 35 | |
15 | 36 | 7? | 260 | 650 | 35 | |
22 | 38 | 8? | 250 | 995 | 45 | |
Portable engines completed as follows: | ||||||
1 to 4? HP mounted on wood sills, steel axles, iron truck | ||||||
6 HP Portable and up, mounted on steel channel truck, | ||||||
GASOLINE ENGINES | ||||||
6 | Complete | $550 | ||||
8 | Complete | 650 |
The only two Quincy tractors known to remain in existence are
pictured here. The one on the left belongs to Elmer Rice, of
Hagerstown, Maryland. The one on the right is owned by a collector
in Pennsylvania.
At the annual meeting one year later more Chambersburg directors
were elected and the four officers were re-elected. John T.
Metcalfe remained as general superintendent, but left the company
in December in protest against the internal conflicts of the
company, but later events showed that behind-the-scenes
negotiations were taking place.
At the annual meeting in 1915, Lester Miller, who had been with
the company and with whom Mr. Metcalfe had had some disagreement,
was named general manager. During most of 1915, secret efforts to
move the Quincy plant to Chamberburg were again being developed,
and the plan broke into the open in early 1916.
There were denials that a move was to be made to the T. B. Woods
Sons Company plant at King and Third Streets. But in a few weeks
the directors met in Chambersburg and ratified the move, which
tooks place within a few weeks.
When the Quincy Engine Company moved to Chambersburg in March
and April, 1916, it was free of debt and there was a surplus.
Employees numbered 38 persons. The product was in demand. However,
the move was fatal and the Quincy Engine Company, in the words of a
Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce publication, published in 1945,
‘struggled along for three years before giving up the
ghost’.
Quincy engine number 218, 1 HP made in 1905 or 1906, owned and
restored by Elmer Rice.
Model designed and built by Charles Carbaugh 3 HP Quincy, 1/3
scale, from a 1907 or 08 original.
Quincy loyalists would like to believe that the Quincy Engine
Company would have gone on to greater fame if it had remained where
it startedin Quincy. And it is certain that Metcalfe adherents are
firmly convinced that the company failed after the move because
John T. Metcalfe was no longer on hand to apply his genius and
expertise and reputation to the product.
Charles M. Carbaugh, of 17 Frick Avenue, Waynesboro,
Pennsylvania 17268, has compiled a list of known Quincy engines,
and has supplied some facts concerning the Metcalfe and Quincy
engines. Only one engine of the 1879-1890 Metcalfe Manufacturing
Company era is now known, and it is located in White Post,
Virginia. Mr. Carbaugh has restored (see GEM
Sept/Oct 1975) the only known existing engine of the 1904-1906
Metcalfe and Miller Company era, and it is owned by Ron McVey in
Wilmington, Delaware. Mr. Carbaugh has owned six Quincy engines at
various times, putting each of them in operating condition. About
forty Quincy engines of the 1906-1916 Quincy Engine Company period
are now recorded. Just two Quincy tractors are now recorded and
these are located in Lemasters, Pennsylvania, and Hagerstown,
Maryland.
Roger Mowrey is president of the Kittochtinny Historical
Society. This article was condensed from one originally published
in that Society’s papers, Volume XVI.